Medical Science vs the Art of Healing

I am reading The Turning Point by Fritjof Capra. In it, Capra presents his ideas on the dynamics underlying the major problems of our time. "What we need is a new vision of reality, a fundamental change in our thoughts, perceptions, and values... from the mechanistic to the holistic conception of reality."

As a physicist, Capra talks about the history of science, how each new scientific discovery brought about change in all basic structures of society, including social, religious, economic, and medicine. Developments in biology have brought about dramatic advancements in medical science. But, he explains, our modern medicine is founded on the idea that the body is a machine, science can test and detect the cause of a breakdown in the system, and with the use of drugs or surgery most health problems can be fixed. It’s like taking your car to the mechanic.

In his book, Capra points out that the modern machine approach to medicine is not making us healthier, but is actually making us more sick. By ignoring the holistic picture of what illness is, and relying on doctors to fix, or mask, what is broken, people have become excused from the responsibility for their own health.

And because of advances in technology and economic pressures, the modern "health" industry is focused on selling tests, drugs, and surgery, not on healing. As one medical doctor told me, "It's a retail business."

Ironically, what is referred to as traditional medicine is a relatively new science studied in modern, industrialized societies, whereas alternative medicine is based on healing methods practiced by many of the world's oldest cultures for centuries.

Alternative medicine looks at the underlying imbalances in the mind/body systems as a whole, and addresses those issues before they create disease. A person is not considered “broken” with a need to be fixed. Instead they are supported in ways that allow the person to improve their health and wellbeing of the mind, body and spirit.

The turning point that Capra describes is the shift that he sees taking place in biomedical and quantum physics, from mechanistic to holistic, which is bringing about a new way of thinking in our contemporary culture. Studies in the physical sciences are finding a link between physical matter and metaphysical energy, something that has long been understood in indigenous cultures, but still considered too woo-woo by most popular standards today.

Capra’s theories about a “new vision of reality, one that allows transforming our world to flow together as a positive movement for social change” is even more poignant today than when he wrote them 25 years ago. It’s an inspiring read for those who like to think.

Testing My Theory

The Seattle School of Oriental Medicine agreed to hang some of my herb art on the walls of their treatment rooms. I chose two versions of each herb for each room.

I received a lot of positive feedback about how much the students and patients liked the work, how the art changed the feel of the rooms, and how much they appreciated having artwork that related to Oriental Medicine.

About nine months later I got a call from the office manager. She was very apologetic about having to tell me that one of the pairs of art had to go. They had repeatedly received negative feedback from patients from that one pair of herb prints while the others received only positive responses. While she was horrified to have to ask me to remove them, I was thrilled to find out more information about why that particular pair was disturbing to some.

When I went to pick up the artwork I caused quite a stir with the faculty who hadn't been informed of the decision to remove them. I took advantage of their interest to learn more about their experiences of the artwork. Because they are trained to sense energy (chi), I found it particularly fascinating to hear what they sense when looking at each pair of herb prints.

The herb some people had problems with was Long Dan Cao, or Chinese Gentian Root. It was explained to me that this herb is used for people who have anger. When one instructor looked at the prints, he could sense his internal chi "rise."

My understanding is that people who are skilled at remaining calm and still in the midst of outside diversions would be able to stay with that kind of chi rising, but those who may be easily irritated would be pulled off balance. One person would get so distracted that he couldn't read a patient's pulse!

We decided to test out the other herb prints to see what reactions they caused. The other three herbs turned out to be calming and harmonizing. They are more universally beneficial for most people because they encourage the chi to settle, not rise.

Any image can be energizing or calming based on it's subject matter, composition and color choice, but in this case I made all the images to be pleasing (at least to my tastes). Since there was such a strong "repulsion" to these images from some people, but others really love them, I wonder how much of this is caused by the chi quality of the herb itself. Yes, it's just an image of the herb, but it still holds chi.

I started to realize that while I may be kidding myself about the power of working with the herbs, I might also want to take this idea more seriously. I decided that if I was to continue working with healing plants, I would be more conscious about what energy I might be bringing into the space. This opened up some very interesting possibilities for art to come.

Herbs as Healing Artwork

My acupuncturist/herbalist left me in her herbal apothecary for an hour to select specimens to use in artwork. It was intoxicating. The smells of dried herbs and the vast variety to choose from made me somewhat delirious.

Not knowing any of the medicinal uses, I chose those that I was drawn to for aesthetic reasons. Later, I researched the herbs to learn their English names and, out of curiosity, I looked up which ones were beneficial to me versus not. (There was an even mix.)

As I studied the herbs, I learned that many of the "chinese" herbs are common plants found in my home or garden, such as Clematis Vine, Cinnamon, Barley, or Knotty Pine (yes, the tree).

Even more interesting, as I looked at the natural structure of the plant part, I could see why it has some of the medicinal properties that are associated with it. The Clematis Vine, for example, is a perennial which grows quickly each spring, spreading out up to 30 ft. The cross-section of the vine reveals a round, porous structure, which helps to move water and nutrients quickly. Medicinally, Mu Tong (Clematis Vine) is harmonizing and draining. I started to understand how the natural physical geometry of a living thing is reflective of it's energetic properties.

Thinking I'd use the herb specimens in the artwork, I decided to document them as proof of what was inside each pod. This exploration turned into the Medicinal Herb Print Series.

Each print is a photographic composition that portrays the energetic resonances of a single herb. To magnify its physical structure they are enlarged up to 20 times their original size. I wanted to experiment with interesting compositions while maintaining some integrity to the original plant. I decided to present each in the traditional format of botanical drawings floating in white space.

I have not created the pods, but decided to test my theory on the prints themselves.

Herbs as Medicine

When I go to the acupuncturist's office, I love to see and smell the wall of herb jars in the herbal pharmacy. Each jar is neatly labeled in Chinese and they are filled with a wide variety of bits and pieces of dried plants. There are sticks, roots, tubers, leaves, flowers, & berries. Visually they are stunning. The variety of geometric patterns represented by the selection of plant parts is as diverse as the ailments of the people who are treated with them.

In Oriental Medicine, the herbal formulas prescribed are each customized to the specific needs of the patient. The herbalist will measure out amounts from several jars and pile them together to make your formula. Each time, the recipe for your formula may vary slightly. It's a delicate dance of balancing the herbal properties to fit you needs in that moment. The properties of each herb are closely studied and paired with others to create a unique combination of qualities that will help balance out you energy.

Not all herbs are good for everyone. One herb can be beneficial to one person, but be harmful to another. If you tend to be cold, you would not be prescribed a cooling formula, for example.

Working with Chinese herbs for years, I developed an interest in the subtle properties that distinguish one herb from another. I wondered whether a person could subconsciously be attracted to an herb which would be beneficial to them and repulsed (to use the official term) by one that is harmful.

Jokingly, I thought about making sculpted pods filled with things like coffee beans or chocolate, without revealing the contents, to see if people could resist them. By the same token, could I create artwork with the herbs to test people's subconscious reactions to them?

My herbalist agreed to let me take samples of herbs to do some explorations. In the next post I'll talk about where this leads.